The academy gates will open at 8:30am each morning and we ask that your parents/carers drop you off at the academy gates so that you (and the other children!) settle quickly and are ready to start the academy day. We ask that the office are informed if someone different will be picking you up in the afternoon.
Each morning the children come in and put their coats and bags into their lockers and packed lunches into the cookery room. They will then sit quietly and complete the early morning maths challenge or read to an adult at their desks whilst Mrs Keighley and Miss Browne call the register to check if all of the children are in the academy. You will be asked what you are having for lunch.
We start our Maths lessons with Just Know It’s, focussing on key maths skills and facts that the children need to learn. For example doubling, number bonds and time. We practise counting forwards and back in 1s, 2s, 5s, and 10s daily. We strive to make the lessons interactive and enjoyable with well thought out equipment used to aid learning this can all be found in our maths areas or in our resource trays.
Maths lessons are blocked into units, where we focus on each objective linked to that unit after completing a pre-learning task. Throughout each unit we will use concrete, pictorial and abstract methods to deepen understanding. We also use fluency, reasoning and problem solving challenges daily.
There are lots of things that you can do at home to help you with your maths, such as:
At break time the children are provided with a healthy snack and are prompted to have a drink and go to the toilet. Throughout the day the children have access to their EWOA water bottles which they need to take home and bring to the academy daily. We encourage the children to be as independent as possible, even when peeling fruit and refilling drinks! Please let the teacher and office know if you child has any allergies.
On a Monday and Tuesday we practise our handwriting; we are currently practising our cursive letters so we can join up words in our sentences. This means we can write faster and more efficiently, please feel free to practise at home and show off to family members!
On a Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we focus our learning around a text based on the five reading domains. We will make predictions, learn new vocabulary, sequence events, use our inference and retrieve information from the texts. You will each be given a reading bookmark with question stems so that your parents/carers can help with this too when reading at home.
English lessons are structured to link with a text that is cross-curricular through exploring our exciting Year 1 topics. We focus on sentence structure and handwriting when we are writing, placing punctuation correctly and using our phonic knowledge to help us to spell.
We will all have our lunch in the main academy hall. We will walk over to the hall together and then we will sit at tables and eat our lunch with our friends. It is really important that you are able to eat your dinner with a knife and fork so make sure you practice!After we have eaten lunch, the children play on the playground. Although closely monitored, the children are given the opportunity to take part in unstructured play which encourages them to develop their own games and rules.
We spend some time each day helping you to learn your letter sounds and names. You will work in groups with an adult and you may even take some work home to share with your families! It’s very important that you try your best to practice the letters and sounds and remember them as best as you can!
We will be listening to you read and share sentences and books. We will also be playing some interactive games that support you to recognise the phonic sounds in different words.
You will also get to do lots of writing! You will learn how to form your letters correctly and also how to write short sentences.
During the afternoon, we will either do music, PE, science, art, history or geography. Pupils are mostly taught by the class teacher but are also taught by other members of staff who can share their own subject expertise with the children.
After a busy day, it’s time for you to go home! We will independently collect our things for home and all sit on the carpet together for a story. We will then line up on the playground and wait for your parents/carers to pick you up. Once one of the academy adults sees your parent/carer you will be called to go home, please do not leave the line unless an adult has called you. Unfortunately, we can’t let you go home with a different adult unless we have been told that you are being picked up by someone different.
Here are some websites that may help your children with their learning:
